So I ended up pulling a bit for Hilda, spent about 6K gems. In part because I really enjoyed Black and White, and in part because she looked like she would be a lot of fun to use (and she is). However, as I feared, she has a lot of problems and I would definitely not list her as a "must have" for players concerned with being able to consistently clear high end content.
The first main issue that I noticed, is that her self buffing is relatively poor compared to other 5* and even 4* strikers. Hilda has difficulty getting good buffs onto herself- quickly. This is because her Try and Stop Us is completely reliant on her having speed boosts, and the only way she can naturally get speed buffs is from her Flame Charge which only gives a +1. Flame Charge is also a very weak attack at 30 power. So she wants to avoid using it when possible. On her own, Hilda can get a +6 attack buff on turn 4, or a +4 on turn 3. This is terrible compared to other good strikers- who typically can get a +4 buff in two turns or boost Crits along the way.
In order to get decent fire power on her in a reasonable amount of turns, she is reliant on a speed buff from an allied sync pair. This is actually not as big of a deal breaker as it might sound, because in single player content you can pair her with Skyla who can both boost her speed, her defense, and throw additional potions at her. Its also worth noting that if you bring her into say Erika EX, allies are likely to be leading Arcanine and most people are smart enough to toss an X Speed your way to power up Emboar. Thus the ideal set up for Hilda is to lead with Flame Charge and get a +Speed All along the way from an ally, then drop in Try and Stop us on turn two for a +6. Its not reliable in pick up games, but it happens often enough and its pretty easy to coordinate with a buddy.
On the plus side, I find that her recoil is not as debilitating as I initially feared, it is much more manageable than Head Smash from Roark & Craindos. This is due to a combination of little things that add up. Emboar does have about 100 more HP than Craindos, Flare Blitz has a lower recoil % and Flare Blitz has a lower base power. All of this combined means that Hilda generally doesn't rip herself apart quite as specacularly as Roark... it also means that Hilda has less overall punch.
Going off the above point, i also feel that Hilda's damage is a bit underwhelming compared to other 5* strikers. Even if you pull off the perfect combo and nail that +3 speed on turn 1 (X Speed All from an ally and 1 Flame Charge), to boost up to +6 attack turn two, she doesn't feel as explosive as units like Olivia or Brendan or even Kris honestly. Unless you get paired with Phoebe for Dire Hit+, Hilda isn't going to be scoring crits, which means that she isn't ignoring shields or defense buffs the vast majority of the time. She also runs into problems managing increased recoil once you start getting consistent crits... Which doesn't leave Hilda & Emboar in a great place.
So how does she perform in end game content. Well, I'm not really going to talk about Korinna EX, because that is the Acerola Cheese Fest for the moment, but I have played with her a bit in Eirika EX VH, and she has done pretty well. Honestly it feels like her stats were tweaked to be useful in that fight. It realy does feel like the Dev's did play test her for that challenge. If a random Marley tosses a Speed Boost your way, and you bolt up to +6 turn two, you will hit Erika for between roughly 1,200 and 1,400 per hit. With recoil this is a 3 hit self KO, and you will trigger First Aid 4 on the second Flare Blitz, First Aid 4 also will heal you (even from a sliver, enough to survive ANOTHER Flare Blitz) allowing you to fire off a surprising number in a row before relying on potions. Depending on damage numbers however, you may run into trouble if you get tagged with Sludge Bomb in addition to the damage from Flare Blitz recoil, which can mess with the rhythm. I have had some success gambling on living by a sliver after Flare Blitz and hoping I don't die... which will trigger First Aid 4, and it has helped keep damage up (I also have a +15 2* grass pin, which also helps with hanging on). I have definitely found more success with Erika EX with randoms with Hilda & Emboar on my side. Its still not an easy fight, but the recoil does *not* make her useless in High End Fire Co-Op maps- so she does work in the content that you would expect a 5* striker to perform well in. I had feared that she would be useless in Erika EX due to recoil and was pleasantly surprised. Obviously if she works in Erika EX she is fine in other less daunting challenges.
After playing with her, I would say that the biggest thing Hilda needs, is either Endurance or First Aid 4 triggering at a higher threshold. That would give her a ton more flexibility in terms of maintaing pressure with Flare Blitz. As it would make it easier for her to plan for First Aid 4 coming into play. That way you wouldn't need to worry about being screwed by being in the no-go zone where Flare Blitz recoil would kill you, but your HP is still too high to trigger First Aid 4, where you are forced to gamble on surviving the recoil or wasting a turn of unity with a Potion.
tl;dr Hilda is a high risk medium reward striker. She is far from a must have, but I don't think she is useless either. She feels about right balance wise but honestly she does feel slightly disappointing compared to the other 5* strikers she begs comparison with- Brendan, Olivia, and Kris. She is both higher risk than those units and lower damage overall. But she does compare well to Flint, and I do believe that she is better than Flint as a physical striker (albeit more unreliable). She is not a must have, but she has good art and is fun to use. So if you want a fun cool unit Hilda is great, if you are saving your gems for meta units, Hilda is, IMO, not worth it.
Submitted October 01, 2019 at 05:42PM by akaean https://ift.tt/2nmzMh4
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